The bittersweet dessert--Last day(-ish) in London

Well, here it is. The last time I will make an entry into our little meeting spot. Just one more thing in my life that I have to bring to an end. Come on now, don't cry. We need to just cherish the time that we have spent in this cyber meeting place and look forward to the future. Lets just rip of this band-aid then and not draw this out too much, ok?

Unfortunately, my last day in London was not overly glamourous. But it was good, none the less. The day started out nice and early as I tried to catch Gaby before she left for work. We had a nice little chat as she got ready for the day and I had a cup of tea with her. By the time that she left for work Brett was up and we got started with all of the packing that needed to be done. As I started packing, I realized that I desperately needed to do some laundry and there was going to be no way that I could make it either to or through my holiday with my parents in Florida (yay Disneyworld!). So, I figured out how to use Gaby's washing machine (she didn't even know how!). I was able to figure it out in about 2 minutes, haha. So we packed ourselves up as we waited for the laundry to get out of the machine to be laid out to dry. Unfortunately, my last day in London was typical London weather... rain. Yuck. But we persisted none the less. After the laundry was done, we walked to the Tube station and hopped on the Piccadilly to CAPA to check our emails again and print off a few things. After our computer addictions had been satisfied, we headed to try and get some tickets to see Billy Elliot, only to discover that they did not have any student tickets, so we decided to seek out other options. After visiting the Leicester Square Tkts booth, unsuccessfully, we decided to walk over to see if we could get some student tickets to see Mary Poppins. Success. After securing our entertainment for that evening, we grabbed a bit of lunch at Pizza Express and headed down to the Underground once more. This time we headed to Holborn, destined for the British Museum. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was so amazing to see so many artifacts from Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, from all over Ancient Greece and Europe. The Rosetta Stone was just sitting there. No big deal. It was amazing. The history nerd in me came out in full force. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see everything because we had to get back to see Mary Poppins and make a last trip to Top Shop. By far my least expensive trip ever to Top Shop. I only bought a necklace. That is it. While there was tons that I wanted, I knew that my wallet couldn't afford anymore shopping (after having to admit defeat and ask for money from my parents in Switzerland, I think that is a sign that shopping is a no no). So I just bought my one necklace to go with one of my dresses for rush. After saying goodbye to Top Shop for the last time, we headed back to Leicester Square, grabbed some Pret and a cup of tea and went to see Mary Poppins. The show was absolutely fabulous. The little kid in me definitely came out and I didn't care. All of the dancing was pretty impressive, and it made me really miss dancing. All too soon my last day in London was over and Brett and I headed back to Gaby's.

Wednesday morning Brett and Gaby went to the airport bright and early, leaving me alone. When I finally woke up, I finished all of my packing (even though some of my stuff was still damp), and walked to the Tube station. I must have looked ridiculous. I was there with my big backpack on my bag, my big dufflebag on my front, a big tote bag on one shoulder, my purse on the other and a bag of garbage in my hand (because there was just too much to leave there, I felt bad). After a frustrating ride on the Piccadilly, having to get on and off switching trains because they kept terminating, I finally made it to Heathrow. My fourth time in that airport, it didn't seem real that I was leaving until I had all of my bags checked in. I just sat there in the terminal not knowing what to do with myself. It was just so sad. Everything was over so fast. I didn't want to come home. I mean, yes, I missed America and all of my friends and family, but I also realized that London had sort of become my home too. I was leaving the familiar once more. I had known as I went along that my life was changing, but sitting in Heathrow it became real that I had to go back to my old life now, with new experiences, new dispositions, new hopes, fears and dreams, and plenty of new friends.

Looking back on the whole summer, I had a wonderful time. While there are some things that I would change, some things that I wish were different, it was a great experience. I learned a lot about work, the world, life and about myself. Now the next challenge is going to be life in America, finding my place and continuing down the path towards my future. There are still plenty more adventures to come. We'll just have to see what happens next.

Yours Always,

Jessica--Pond Jumper Extraordinaire